What a concept! And I’m taking credit. Here and now. What if a newstalgic twist on a nouveau-classic involved twisting the cooking techniqe and not the food? And the result was totally true to the ‘new-stalgic’ ethic?
Consider, if you will, the classic Bloomin’ Onion: A seasoned, deep-fried chrysan-themum of fragrant, yummy onion ‘fries’ you break of with your fingers and dip in… Whatever strikes your fancy.
Now what if you could make something twice as crispy and a whole lot heal-thier… Without the fuss of Deep Frying?
I was too excited to sleep. So I fired up my computer and Googled it. And I guess the real miracle – in retospect – is that only a few hundred other folks has already tried it. And only a few of them had been at it long enough to claim having ‘perfected’ the technique.
Anyway..
Here’s an Air Fryer Bloomin’ Onion recipe that claims to have gone viral. So it seems like a good place to start…
Just for perspective: among the hun-dreds of other spotlighted, generously-commended recipes that came up in the first dozen or so pages of Google returns… This is one of only a relatively few that had earned a 5/5 star rating. Let me know how it stands up with your fave deep-fried version…
Some history…
The original Bloomin’ Onion might – as original air fryer recipe author Justin Coit suggests but doesn’t actually say outright – be the one genuinely authentic contributions Australia’s Outback Steakhouse ever made to Western Cuisine.
His home version looks tremendously crunch and imminently dippable (without breaking). And it really is easy to make – especially if you already have a basic knowledge of classic French breading.
What you do
Prepare your onion(s) as Justin meticulously explains in the source post. This includes careful peeling and slicing into finger-like wedges. The secret here is not to cut all the way through the bottom of the flat end of the onion. It must sit upright throughout cooking to come out right.
As unusual as some of the following details might seem at first, this is what Justin wants you to do…
- Place the cut onion on a large plate and sprinkle the flour all over.
- Next, pour the egg mixture straight onto the onion using your hands to massage it in.
- Sprinkle the breadcrumbs and spice mixture all over the onion, again making sure it’s well coated.
- Spray with a light coat of olive oil spray.
As I said, little fussy, but well worth it, when you see how beautifully this recipe comes out!
Tips and hacks:
The seasoning is, of course, one vector on which you can really tweak this dish and make it yours. Justin uses a fairly simple blend as follows:
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- 1 tsp. paprika
- 1 tsp. cayenne
- ½ tsp. thyme
- ½ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. black pepper
But you’ll want perfect the seasoning – especially the amounts of garlic and cayenne – to suit yourself.
My take
If you have an Air Fryer – or an countertop oven with an air fryer setting – you really owe it to yourself to try this genuine 5-star recipe with its ‘newer-stalgia’ tweak.
And DO take a look at Justin’s custom-coordinated dipping sauce recipe!
~ Maggie J.